Scottsdale residents join crusade to stop noise, trash

A growing number of residents and merchants are joining a crusade to stop the loud noise, trash and illegal activity coming from downtown Scottsdale's entertainment district.

And more city officials and bar owners are taking action to address the issues raised by Bill Crawford and his newly formed Association to Preserve Downtown Scottsdale's Quality of Life. He lives in downtown Scottsdale and owns Basic Training, a personal-trainer business.

A meeting at his business Thursday drew a large crowd assembled to hear from Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who Crawford invited to hear about the problems and possibly take action if the city doesn't satisfy the group's concerns.

Arpaio, for his part, did not rule out an enforcement effort by the Sheriff's Office.

"This all started with a telephone call to the Police Department three years ago with a simple request to ask them to turn the music down," Crawford said. "The reason all of these people are here today is because of over two, going on three years of frustration it's come to this."

Arpaio said he was there primarily to listen, but he suggested his involvement may not end there.

"I think this is America at work, where you have the citizens who have a concern get together and discuss their issues," he said. "There are people in this town who have their concerns, and I did say if it's not alleviated, at least efforts made, I'll be here on my 19th crime suppression operation, which I have done across the Valley. I do take criticism, but that's not going to stop me."

At the City Council's meeting Tuesday, Greg Donnally, owner of Spanish Fly, Stingray Sushi, Geisha-A-Go-Go and Jimmy Woo's, said the bar and restaurant owners have come together to address the complaints. They have dedicated themselves to a "code of conduct" that includes picking up trash after the bars close, complying with the city's noise ordinance and working with the city to ensure strict enforcement of ordinances dealing with public behavior, he said.

Triyar Entertainment's Shawn Yari, who owns and operates the W Scottsdale Hotel & Residences, and has financial ties to numerous establishments in the downtown entertainment district, said he wants to ensure the bar operations are "in good harmony with the neighborhood."

"I wanted to make sure that I'm here listening to the concerns of the citizens and making sure they're addressed," Yari said. "I have met with every bar owner; every single one that we lease or we're involved in has decibel readers. They're walking around several times a night, making sure that they're within compliance and not upsetting the neighborhood."

The bar owners are "more than happy" to address the problems within their control, such as picking up trash and making sure intoxicated patrons don't drive home, Yari said. However, some problems are out of their control, he said.

"How can we control parking?" he said. "I think (the city) needs to put some permit signs, they need to have an enforcement person driving around and giving tickets because people will park two or three blocks in the residential neighborhood and then walk to the bars. If they do the permit situation, it will work out."

In the meantime, many residents and businesses remain unhappy about what's coming into their neighborhoods from the bars. Trude LaPrade, who lives north of Camelback and Miller roads, said she is "sick and tired" of being awakened in the middle of the night.

"I can hear the DJs, the singing, the girls and guys' loud voices, and I've also collected trash on 74th Street on Sunday mornings, and it's not being taken care of," she said. "We need the interests of the residents to be balanced with the interests of the entertainment industry."

LaPrade's neighbor, Francie Hidalgo, is angry about what has become her morning ritual every Saturday and Sunday.

"I don't think anybody really enjoys cleaning up someone else's defecation, vomit or urine," she said. "It's disgusting. The police, I've always been able to count on them and I don't know why this is slipping through the cracks."

Kate Ellis, a counselor and hypnotherapist at the Healing Quest, on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Civic Center Plaza, said the problems have escalated in the past six months.

"I support all businesses, but when Spanish Fly opened up, the women walking down the street with G-strings, I had to reconfigure my office because my clients would be distracted, going, 'What the heck was that?'" she said. "I used to have the hours of operation between 1 and 9 p.m. and I can't be there after 6 p.m., and even at 3 p.m. it's been very difficult because of the noise."

Councilman Dennis Robbins, who listened to Arpaio's speech, said there are steps the City Council can take to ensure residents and merchants are protected, such as updating code enforcement to deal with parking and trash problems.

Earlier this week, City Manager David Richert told TheRepublic the city is offering a parking program aimed at keeping bar patrons from parking in neighborhoods. He also said the noise ordinance could be amended to specifically address the bass coming from the bars because "it's the boom, boom, boom that's really the problem."